Goode for Demigods
by Chelleus
Summary: The war is over and Percy will be attending Goode for his Junior year, but thank's to Chiron, so will half of the camp. And because Percy's luck is just that good, it isn't long before the drama starts. Can he balance Annabeth, his friends, and still get a passing grade in English? Disregards the Heroes of Olympus. My first story. Kinda crappy.
1. Chapter 1

**Goode for Demigods**

Pro-log (3rd person POV)

The war was over, Kronos was banished to Tartarus, and Percy and Annabeth were dating. Surprisingly, the hardest of the three had nothing to do with destroying Olympus. Although, one could argue that the Crooked One's wrath had nothing on a fuming overprotective Athena. Yes, it was true, after five years of denial, jealousy, and just plain stubbornness, Percabeth, as Aphrodite put it, was created (and Connor had the pics to prove it ;D ). Nothing had really changed, they were still calling one another names, fighting over meaningless things, and trying to out do each other, but now, they were allowed to kiss whenever they wanted. And kiss they did, a fact that earned the two an unbelievably embarrassing talk, from Chiron nonetheless! The weeks blurred past, and before their ADHD minds could comprehend, it was the last day of camp.

In the Poseidon cabin, Percy was rushing to get it cleaned for final inspection. His duffel bag lie unzipped on top his unmade bed, candy wrappers were scattered all around, and his clothes hung from the upper bunk's railing. After sweeping, folding, and packing, Percy heard footsteps quickly approaching his cabin. His eyes widened, a few leftover Coke cans were still stashed under his bed and his trash hadn't been taken out. Quickly pushing the trash bag under his bed, he attempted to conceal it with a blanket.

"You managed to make the cabin look presentable, better than the Hermes cabin at least." Percy turned to see a smirking daughter of Athena. She was dressed in her usual camp t-shirt and jeans, hair up in a messy ponytail, with a clipboard in one hand, and a pen in the other. And in Percy's opinion, she had never looked more beautiful.

"Gee thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," she replied, bending down to inspect the surface of his dresser, "did you dust this?"

"I don't...yes?" frowned Percy. Annabeth raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"You're a Seaweed Brain."

"But I'm your Seaweed Brain," he shot back with a smile. Rolling her eyes, Annabeth got up to leave.

"Time for lunch Percy," she called over her shoulder.

"Wait," he hollered, "how'd I do?"

"You passed, but give those cans to Grover, I heard he was running low." Walking toward the dining pavilion, Percy shook his head.

"She didn't even look under the bed," he chuckled.

"Campers," called Chiron, stomping a hoof, "I have a few announcements." Everybody looked up from their meals and waited for the old centaur to continue. "As you all know, the war is over, hopefully for good this time. Great sacrifices have been made and great victories have been won. I applaud all of you that are here today, and those who are not." A moment of silence passed before Chiron continued, "Many of you will be returning to the mortal world this afternoon, so the gods and I have come to a decision. All campers old enough to go to high school will be leaving for the year." Murmurs broke out at his announcement. All over the pavilion, people's faces showed a mixture of emotions: confusion, excitement, and worry.

"What about the monsters," asked Jake.

"What about us," asked a little girl from the Demeter cabin.

"What about the mortals?" asked Clarisse with a wicked grin.

"Settle down children," eased Chiron, "This is an unanimous decision from the gods. There will be no argument. The monsters have all but disappeared for now, and with the your experience, creatures that do attack will be no trouble for any of you. And Clarrise, there will be no maiming of the mortals. However, for a precaution, the younger campers will be allowed to choose whether to leave or not."

Taking in some of the campers' hesitant expressions, he continued, "Camp Half-Blood was created to train you all, to get you ready for the mortal world and for whatever future you choose. Times have changed, you need an education, and what better way to get it than to go to a mortal school."

Percy spoke up, asking the question on everybody's mind, "What school Chiron?"

Chiron's eyes took in a mischievous glint, "Why, I thought you of all people should've figured it out already Percy. Your friends will all be going to Goode High School."

* * *

**Well, how was it? This is my first fanfic, so I kind of, sort of, have to know what you think. And if you haven't already figured it out, this it a multi-chapter story. Yes I know the plot is overused. And yes I know that this chapter is incredibly short, but keep in mind that this is just an introduction. The real chapters will be a lot longer...hopefully.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Annabeth** (3rd person POV)

Annabeth stared out the window as the countryside faded into the city. Around her, quiet conversations were taking place; the campers' voices were filled with anticipation and excitement. A few year-rounders tapped their feet nervously while the rest of them imagined scenarios that weren't entirely possible.

"Hey," Connor's voice snapped Annabeth's mind out her daydreams, "why is Thalia here?" The said daughter of Zeus turned to glare at him.

"Got a problem?"

"No, no no!," he quickly replied, "I just thought you'd rather be out hunting a hydra or something."

"In case you haven't noticed," said Thalia, "there are no hydras _to_ hunt. So Lady Artemis gave us a break for the year to do whatever we want."

"So you decided to go to school?" asked Nico, his eyebrows scrunching up in confusion.

"Yeah," she replied, "you only go to high school once after all."

"YOLO!" yelled Travis. Katie smacked his arm.

"But you're immortal," stated Malcolm. Thalia's eyes flashed with pain.

"And you guys aren't," she whispered. Malcolm's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean- I don't-"

"Drop it," Annabeth cut in. Thalia shot her a grateful smile, and Annabeth gave her a small one back. The others looked at the hunter sympathetically. Immortality was both a gift and a curse- to live forever while watching their loved ones grow old and die. Even Hades himself couldn't think of a curse worse than that.

Soon the truck rumbled to a stop in the Goode High School parking lot. Argus grunted, signaling the demigods to get out.

"Here we go," said Grover, pushing the doors to Delphi's strawberry delivery truck open, "high school." None of the campers got out, all of them waiting for another to make the first move.

"Move goat-boy," grunted Clarisse, "we don't have all day." Grover blushed.

"Right, let's go then." Jumping out of the door, Annabeth felt stares all around her. Well, she mused, it's not everyday they see a dozen kids get out of a highly suspicious strawberry truck. As soon as they all piled out, Jake closed the doors, and the truck sped off, leaving them to fend for themselves. For a moment ,they just stood there.

"Well bye!" Said Drew. She bumbled off to a group of short skirted, self-centered cheerleaders by the steps.

"Uh, what now?" questioned Nico.

"Um..."

"I don't..."

"Should we..."

_R-i-i-i-ng!_

"Students please head to the gym. The assembly will begin in ten minutes." _Click!_

"That answerers that question," chirped Will happily, "let's go."

Led by Annabeth, the group joined the current of students trying to force through the front doors. After five minutes of pushing and shoving, Annabeth entered the gym to find her companions gone. It would be torture to try to find them in the crowd right now-so she didn't. The basketball court was decorated in blue and white streamers and cheesy banners. A small stage was set up in the center, and on the north and south walls, blue bleachers were pulled out to their full length. Some kids were standing and some were sitting. Scanning around for a empty seat, Annabeth spotted a familiar tuff of black hair.

Jogging up the stairs, she found a empty seat next to him and headed toward it. She was surprised at the amount of people talking to him. Sure he was popular at camp, but was because of the whole 'I saved Western Civilization' kind of thing. Annabeth would've never guessed he was popular in the mortal world. However, she would admit that they had very good taste. As she got closer, they stopped chattering.

"Why'd you guys get all quiet?" he asked, "Principal Leverman isn't behind me is he?"

"What'd you this time Seaweed Brain?" scolded Annabeth.

"Wha? Oh!" he exclaimed, turning around, "didn't see you there Wise Girl.

"Of course you didn't," she quipped, "now tell me what you did."

"I didn't do anything!" protested Percy. Annabeth gave him _the Stoll_. It was a trademark look that involved a raised eyebrow, a ten degree tilt of the head, and a pair of crossed arms. Named after the thieving sons of Hermes, it was a warning look that sent a clear message- a _I'm-giving-you-a-chance-to-tell-the-truth-before-I-gut-you-like-a-fish_ kind of message.

"Alright! Alright!," he caved, "Remember Tammi and Kelli?"

Silence.

"Two years ago?"

Silence.  
"Me and Rachel?"

"Rachel and I," Annabeth corrected. Percy groaned.

"Me. School. Cheerleaders. Fire. Movies." At the last word, Annabeth face lit up with recognition.

"Oh, right. The date that went wrong before it even began." Percy blushed, and the others chuckled at his humiliation.

"Well yeah, and ever since then, he figured I'm a no good troublemaker."

"Dude, you set his pants on fire," added a guy behind him.

"It wasn't my fault!" Percy groaned.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," shrugged another, "you gonna introduce this fine lady to us

Perce?" Percy glared at him.

"Annabeth, meet Mike," he pointed to a lean, brown eyed, blonde, "and Josh," a buff guy with blue eyes and brown hair. "Guys meet Annabeth, my girlfriend." The group around the two gasped, making Annabeth feel awfully uncomfortable.

"Wait!" gasped a girl, "you weren't lying about having a girlfriend in 'Frisco?"

"No Jamey, I wasn't," chuckled Percy.

"Oh my god," choked another, "Nelli's going to be so totally ticked off."

"Oh shit," cursed Percy under his breath, "I forgot about Nelli."

"Who's Nelli?" questioned Annabeth suspiciously.

"I'll tell you later," he whispered into her ear.

"Why? What's wrong with right n-" Music started pouring out of the speakers, an instrumental piece, slow, but cheery at the same time.

"Good morning students!" beamed the woman standing on the stage. She was dressed in bright yellow, and seemed to be in her thirties. "I'm Mrs. Greene, and I'm the vice principal here at Goode. Mr. Leverman over there," she said, pointing to an overweight, balding old man, "is your principal. Now this year we'll be..." Annabeth zoned out.

The assembly was boring no matter how bubbly the lady was. Besides, Annabeth had already studied all the procedures, rules, and schedules for Goode ahead of time. Not to mention, she was very distracted. Percy had put a arm around her, and she leaned into him. For the rest of her high school career, she would be by Percy. There would be no more long distance Iris messaging, worrying about his safety, or trying to figure out her feelings. They were together and gods did it feel good. But deep down, there was a nagging feeling in her gut. Hadn't Aphrodite said that they would become a tragic love story, the best since Helen and Troy? And didn't those two cause a giant war, killing thousands of men? Annabeth pushed those thoughts aside. If the war had taught her anything, it was to enjoy everything for as long as possible. Hopefully, they would be together forever, but with their luck...

She shook her head, and turned her focus back to the chipper vice principal.

"...all of our announcements. And we hope you have a good year at Goode."

* * *

**So I didn't say this in my previous chapter, but I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I do however, own a PC, and a fanfiction account, and that's pretty dang close. Now that the annoying disclaimer is over, I have to thank all of you that reviewed, story alerted, favorite alerted, and even the people who just read the story. I was giddy for hours, after just seeing one review. So thank you! **

**To: mingygirl12, You're my first review, ever, so thanks!**

**To: Immanerd98, Thanks, and I'll try to update, but I'm not really good with schedules, so if I drop off the face of the Earth, I'm not dead, I'm sleeping. :P **

**To: Wingz-and-a-Fez, Thank you. To be honest, I'm not really sure how it'll play out either. Ha Ha Ha... P.S. If I knew what a fez was... I'm sure it'd be pretty cool too. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Percy** (3rd Person POV)

Percy hated the first day of school. It was pointless really. All they did was talk about having a great year, and how fun it would be. Plus, all the teachers had been passing out truckloads of papers to sign, worksheets to do, and syllabuses to look over. Half of it would end up in the trash, and Percy wondered what Grover thought of it all. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of asking.

"It's ridiculous Percy, it really is! I mean don't they have those online options now? Nobody even reads those things for gods sake!" he fumed.

"Good point," nodded Percy, "I throw-" a glare from Grover, "-I mean recycle those as soon as I get home."

"Yeah I wish- where are you going?" Grover asked.

"The cafeteria of course," Percy replied, "where are you going? Grover pointed in the opposite direction.

"The cafeteria."  
"It's this way."  
"Oh," blushed Grover, "I knew that."

Grabbing a tray, Percy joined the lunch line. Percy stared at the options: milk, refried beans, burgers, and pre-packaged cookies. It certainly wasn't gourmet, but he had seen worse. After filling his tray up, Percy found himself another problem. At one side of the cafeteria, all his campmates had grouped together, attracting more than a few stares. But across from them, were Percy's mortal friends, ones he had ditched for the summer. Percy shrugged. He had spent his entire summer fighting Titans, and he felt a need to get lost in the minuscule worries of his other friends. Besides, he had promised Mike he would sit with him, and Percy didn't break promises.

Walking towards the table, Percy felt kind of bad. He was ditching friends that had gone through a war with him for kids that had no idea who he really was. Percy shook those thoughts away; he wasn't doing anything wrong. In fact, his mother would be proud that he was spending time with other people. As he sat down, he was greeted by 'welcome backs' and 'how you doings' and even a couple of man hugs.

"So Percy, what did you do this summer," asked Jamey. 'Slay monsters, defeat Titan lords, save the world' he thought.

"I just went to camp for the summer."  
"That's cool," said Rob, "what camp?"

"Err... I can't tell you."  
"What?" questioned Josh, "why can't you tell us?"

"It's uh... one of those nature camps. Doesn't really have a name," lied Percy. He mentally pat himself on the back at the response. It certainly was better than the orphan in a traveling circus one.  
"I've never heard of a camp without a name," stated Krystal.

"Is that right?" asked Percy nervously, "what did you do for break?"  
"Well I went to this amazing..." Krystal's voiced droned out ad Percy breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, his friends weren't as pushy as a certain daughter of Athena he knew.

As he munched on his cookie-which saddened Percy with its yellowness-his glance shifted to his campmates. They were joking around, insulting each other, and pretty much ignoring all the students' stares at them. Briefly, he caught Annabeth's eye and immediately felt bad for her. Clarisse and Thalia were going at it again, probably about how lightning powers are so much better than a lame electrical spear and how they would maim each other after school, but the part that had Percy grinning was Annabeth. She was stuck in the middle of the heated debate, and was probably the only thing stopping the the two from a all out brawl. Her face was practically screaming 'Help me!', but Percy just shrugged. Wasn't he just the most helpful boyfriend. Annabeth glared at him, and he just smiled back.

"You listening Perce?" Josh asked, reminding Percy that he was sitting with other people.

"Wha? Oh yeah. Of course."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then what did I ask you?" Josh challenged, crossing his arms.

"Dude," Mike cut in, chuckling, "you sound like a jealous girlfriend."

"Do not!" he denied-after punching the boy in the gut of course.

"Can you two just shut up for once?" asked Rob.

"Yeah guys, it's totally obvious that Percy was drooling over Annabeth," Jamey added, rolling her green eyes. Needless to say, Percy blushed.

"Damn, you are so whipped!" Liam chuckled.

"Yeah, well-," Percy got cut off by Mike, who had nudged him.

"Nelli alert, 12 o'clock!"

"Does she know about your girlfriend?" asked Rob.

"God, I hope not," Liam answered, his face scrunched up in annoyance.

"She does," Jamey informed helpfully, giving Percy a look of sympathy. He groaned. Titans he could handle, but angry girls? Not so much. At first, he considered hiding behind Annabeth, but his manly pride denied him the privilege, so he just bit into his burger and tried to look as invisible as possible.

"Perrrcy!" shrieked a shrill voice. Gods, if her voice became any higher, he would've mistaken it for the bell. And just like a bell, it attracted all the attention in the room-including Annabeth's.

"Go away Nelli," he demanded, taking another bite of his burger.  
"But baby, I missed you," she said, batting her eyelashes. She looked like she was having a seizure.

"Well I didn't. And I am not your 'baby'."

"Aw, don't be like that babe," she whined, completely ignoring Percy's request and draping her skinny arms around his neck.

"Gods Nelli! Get away from me!" he demanded, pushing her arms off.

"But, you want me," she insisted with a pout, which in Percy's opinion made her look even more unattractive.

"No I don't. I have a girlfriend so just leave me alone."

"You mean her?" she asked, pointing a manicured fingernail towards Annabeth, "you could do _so_ much better." Percy's already harsh glare intensified into a colder one. Into the one that he had used against Kronos himself. Everyone flinched at the sight, even Nelli.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," he managed through clenched teeth, so just go away." Nervously, Nelli nodded and left. Then, he turned to the people staring and added, "nothing to see here."

After another couple extremely awkward minutes of silence, the bell rang. Percy dumped his half finished lunch, grabbed his books, and headed out the double doors. Did he mention how much he hated the first day of school?

* * *

**I don't like this chapter, and I'm pretty sure you don't like me very much either. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and tell me what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Annabeth** (3rd Person POV)

"Hey Annabeth!" called a voice, " wait up."

"Yeah sure. What's up?"

"What do you mean what's up? Aren't you bothered by what just happened?"

"You mean the scene Percy just pulled?"

"Of course! What else?" she exclaimed.

"It was nothing Thals. Percy obviously doesn't like Nelli, so what's the problem? It's completely illogical."

"But-"

"The point is that you don't have to worry about Percy and I. If anything, you should take care of yourself." Thalia's face morphed into confusion.

"What in gods' name are you talking about?"

"Obviously, I'm talking about-" Annabeth started to explain, but then the bell rang, "gosh Thals, you made me late. We'll talk later."

"Wait Annabeth! Talk about what? hollered Thalia, useless on Annabeth's retreating figure.

* * *

Annabeth stepped into math, interrupting the teacher from calling roll. She scanned the room for familiar faces: Connor, Katie, Jake, and Grover were the only ones she recognized. _No Percy_ she observed, a bit dejected.

"-to explain why you are late?" scolded the teacher.

"I got a bit held up," she explained truthfully.

"Well," the teacher continued with a stern expression, "try to prevent that from happening again."

"Yes ma'am."

"Now take a seat Ms..." the teacher paused, unsure of Annabeth's name.

"Chase ma'am, Annabeth Chase," she answered.

"Of course, now sit down and try not to cause another interruption."

"Yes ma'am," Annabeth said quickly, glad to end the interrogation. She groaned, late on her first day. How unlike her.

Class carried on, introductions were made, and rules were voiced. And although Annabeth loved learning, she despised the whole "getting to know each other" thing. Because honestly, she would probably never _see_ half these people after high school, let alone remember who their favorite artist was.

So after a brief, "I'm Annabeth, I like reading, my favorite color is green" introduction, she let her mind wander to that girl, Nelli. Annabeth wasn't lying when she told Thalia she wasn't bothered by it, but one can't but help wonder if it happened very often. Of course, it wasn't their fault that Percy was extremely attractive(fighting bloodthirsty monsters tended to bulk up a guy), but Percy didn't really grasp the concept of being "hot". He just thought the girls didn't have anything better to do than gain his attention. Oh how naive he was.

The bell rang, and Annabeth gratefully picked up her bag. According to her schedule, she would have P.E. next- finally, some relief for her ADHD. As she approached the school gym, the noise became louder. Yells rang out, bouncing balls echoes against the walls, and laughter carried throughout the the hall. And when she opened the doors, the noise engulfed her, and a strong blast of AC hit her harshly.

Just like she expected, teens were jumping around, shooting hoops, and running about. In a corner, a group of girls giggled among themselves. On one side of the gym, a heated volleyball match was going on, and on the other, an intense basketball game A tall man-around 40 years old- untucked a pencil from his ear, wrote something on a clipboard, and then pushed the pencil back into his graying brown hair. _The coach_, Annabeth assumed. Standing awkwardly by the entrance, Annabeth felt extremely out of place. As she slowly walked around aimlessly, she spotted Thalia, and hurried over.

Thalia was sitting on the stage, chatting animatedly with Clarisse. Annabeth did a double take. Who would've guessed they'd become friends.

"-there's this picture. And he's like three and his mom told me he was taking a bath, but the thing is, he's trying to eat his blue rubber ducky. I mean, who in their right mind would eat a rubber ducky?!" Figures, the thing they bond over is Percy's humiliation.

"Hey," Annabeth cut in, "enjoying yourselves?"

"Heck yeah!" Clarisse exclaimed, "I'm getting tons of blackmail for Prissy."

"Me too," Thalia agreed, "only I enjoy _giving_ tons of blackmail about Percy." Annabeth rolled her eyes at her friends' antics.

"Well," interrupted another, " I don't exactly enjoy the giving _or _receiving of my private information."

"That's too bad," smirked Thalia, "Speaking of private, do you wanna hear about the picture Sally took when Percy's pants-"

"Whoa, whoa whoa!" exclaimed Connor, sneaking up behind the group, "what's this about Percy's pants?" Percy groaned and slammed his head on the stage. Seeing that her boyfriend was going to be permanently humiliated, Annabeth grabbed his arm and picked him up.

"Come on Seaweed Brain, let's go."

Percy grumbled, "Thalia is so dead. I swear if she tell anyone about the one where..."

"Don't worry," Annabeth chuckled, "Thalia wouldn't go that far. I mean if she gave up her best piece of blackmail, how would she get you to do anything she wanted?"

"Geez Wise Girl," Percy muttered, "you sure know how to make a guy feel better." He scowled at her, but his twinkling eyes ruined the effect. Annabeth smiled at him.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I think you looked cute when-"

"Annabeth," he whined, "don't go there. Please." She just chuckled and pulled him toward the storage room.

The storage room was extremely crowded. buckets, uniforms, and various balls littered the dimly lit space. Annabeth pulled Percy into the room and started rummaging around.

"Wise Girl?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there a reason why you brought me into a small, dark, and secluded area?" he asked innocently.

"Yeah I need a-" she paused, his question sinking in, "Percy! How dare you accuse me of-"

"Technically Wise Girl," he cut in, "I didn't accuse you of anything." She glared at him before continuing to dig through the mess. "But," Percy continued, "if you want, we could-"

"Gods Percy!" Annabeth groaned, "just shut up already."

"Don't wanna," he replied. And before Annabeth got really mad, Percy continued, "What are you looking for anyways?"

"A camera," she answered.

"Why the Hades do you need a camera for?" he asked, poking a suspicious looking mat.

"Well," Annabeth grunted, lifting a large box, "Now that Clarisse has a whole bunch of embarrassing stories about you, I figure we should get at least one of her." Percy glanced at his girlfriend warily.

"What's the plan?"

Well...the plan worked...sort of.

_Annabeth watched discreetly as Percy snuck up behind the intended target, Clarisse. She held her breath as Percy unscrewed the lid. Readying her camera, Annabeth gave Percy the go signal. Annabeth frowned, this wasn't her best plan. Percy could be seen before he could execute the plan, he could be heard, or he could simply mess up. But with only two minutes of P.E. left, there wasn't much she could do about it. _

_As Percy got started to dump the powder onto the unsuspecting girl, all that could go wrong, went wrong. First, Thalia spotted him and warned Clarisse. Then Clarisse turned around and shocked an unprepared Percy. And then finally, Percy slipped and accidentally dumped the athlete's foot powder on himself, not Clarisse. And because the situation was too good to waste, Annabeth took the picture anyway._

* * *

**I'm a horrible updater. It's a fact. Well what do you expect? It's the Olympics, it's summer time, and I'm a teenager. Horrible excuse, I know. But if you're still reading this, you deserve an award, so here: **

** V**

** O the gold**

** V **

** 0 the silver **

**V  
o and the bronze**

**Everybody's a winner!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Percy** (3rd Person POV)

Percy would love to say he enjoyed the first week of school. He'd love to say he was hanging out with all of his friends, not at all felling like a jerk for choosing one group over the other. He'd love to say that this year was different, that he was a perfect student. And most of all, he'd love to say that he spent every breathing second with Annabeth. But then, he'd be lying. Instead, he felt horrible, was already behind in all his classes, and only had three classes with Annabeth-one of which was lunch. Pretty pathetic, huh?

Outside of the brick torture box called school however, was a different story. Turns out, all of the high school campers were staying in a cheap apartment just a few blocks away from Goode. And coincidentally, the apartment was four flights of stairs above Percy's bedroom. In the back of his mind, Percy wondered if Chiron had known they were living in the same building. Who was he kidding, Chiron had probably planned this the minute he stepped through camp's borders. Anyways, the weekend had finally come, and Percy couldn't be more excited. He figured that it wouldn't be much different from summer, except for the whole end of the world thing. Yes, this year Percy would have friends he didn't have to lie to, and a girlfriend who would understand if he came home bloody and bruised.

As Percy headed out the door, he grabbed his skateboard and yelled a quick goodbye to his mother. He pushed the door to the stairs wide open, and started sprinting to the seventh floor, not wanting to wait for the elevator. Quickly ascending, he watched the signs: four, five, six, bingo! Rushing down the hall, Percy scanned the doors: 701, 703, 705, ahh, 707. He loudly knocked on the door. Nothing. He knocked louder. Nothing. He tried to knock again, but the door suddenly swung open, revealing an old man in a robe scowling at his unwanted visitor.

"What do you want kid?" he grumbled.

"Uh..."

"Well kid? Spit it out."

"I..."

"I don't want any cookies if that's what you're trying to sell."

"Um no sir," said Percy, awkwardly rocking on his heels, "I just uh thought this was my friends' place."

"And do tell, what made you think that?"

"See they just moved here and-"

"Does one of them have blonde hair, and a weird looking nose?" the man suddenly interrupted.

"Uh yeah, why?"

"He's right behind you," the man said, pointing to Percy's right. Percy quickly spun around, and as the man said, stood a snickering Connor Stoll.

"Oh," Percy blushed, "I'm sorry for um disturbing your weekend sir. Hope you have a good day." The man grunted, and then slammed the door. Connor's snickers turned into a full out ROFL, literally, he was clutching his stomach, and rolling in the middle of the hall. Percy glared.

"Not a word Stoll, not a single word."

"No promises Perce," Connor managed to choke out, "but you should know, we live in 708."

"But Annabeth said it was the forth door from the left," Percy stated, scratching his head in confusion.

Sobering up, Connor corrected him, "On the other side of the hall Perce." And just as he said, Annabeth came out of apartment 708, raising her eyebrows at the boy sprawled across the carpet.

"Do I even want to know?" Connor opened his mouth, but Annabeth cut him off, "Nevermind, don't answer that."

"The almighty Annabeth Chase doesn't want an answer?" gasped Percy dramatically. Annabeth crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"It's not like you have any answers to give anyway."

"I'm offended," Percy said, clutching his heart, "my own girlfriend thinks so lowly of me." The door hinges creaked open, and out came the rest of the group. Thalia, Nico, Malcolm, Clarisse, Will, Grover, Jake, Katie, and Travis stood in the now crowded hallway.

"Will you too quit flirting and get on the damn elevator?" Clarisse muttered, "you're giving me a headache."

"I can give you a lot more than a headache Clarisse," Percy retorted, but he helped Connor up, and started walking toward the elevator doors.

* * *

It was noon, and the group was wandering around Manhattan, trying to find something to do. Suddenly, Percy's stomach grumbled, loudly. He felt his face heat up as curious stares were thrown his way.

"What?" Percy defended, "I can't control it." Annabeth shook her head, and looked at the rest of the group.

"It's around lunchtime. How 'bout we get some food?" Murmurs of agreement filled the air, getting rid of the awkward silence. "Alright Percy," said Annabeth, "lead the way."

"What? Why me?"

"'Cause you're the one from around here, obviously. So lead the way to the food," Travis said in a "duh" kind of tone. Katie smacked his head.

"What he means is that we don't know where to go, and you do. So obviously, you get to lead."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Percy admitted sheepishly. He scratched his head, unsure where to take them before a idea popped into his head. "I've got the perfect place."

After walking for about ten minutes, the group arrived at their destination. The boys stared at the entrance as if it was the gateway to heaven while the girls simply raised their eyebrows. The sign read "Dave and Buster's". (**A/N: To be honest, I have no idea if there's a Dave and Buster's in Manhattan, or what the interior of one looks like. It just seems like a place Percy would go to judging by the radio ads.)** Percy pushed the door open, and walked in, the smell of steaks and burgers overpowering his senses. The klinking and ringing of arcade machines providing background noise, while the neon lights stood out vividly in the dim interior. Right at the entrance, a girl, about high school age, stood behind a pedestal. She looked bored, and immediately righted herself when the door's chime rang.

"Welcome to Dave and Buster's," she greeted with a practiced enthusiasm, "how many will there be today?"

"Twelve." Annabeth replied.

After counting twelve sets of utensils, she said, "Right this way." She seemed to be struggling with holding so many sets, so Percy bent over and took half of them. The girl smiled gratefully, and Annabeth frowned. She led them over to a wrap-around booth, and set the utensils down before pulling out a notepad and a pen. "What would you like for a drink?" she asked politely.

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Coke."

"Blue raspberry soda," Percy ordered. The girl wrote down their orders, and raised her eyebrows at Percy's request. A small smile eased its way onto the waitresses features, making Annabeth frown even more. Percy glanced curiously at his girlfriend, why was she frowning?

"Alright then," the waitress said, "I'll be back in a few minutes. The menus are in front of you, and our special salmon is available for one week only. I'm Lucy, and I'll be serving you today," she finished, walking toward the drink station. Percy waited for her to leave before turning to his friends.

"If any of you order any kind of seafood, you're paying for everything okay?" he threatened. Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Hey," Katie suddenly interrupted, "isn't that the girl from the cafeteria?"

"Who?" Percy asked, turning around. Immediately, he wished he hadn't. Surrounded by jocks and cheerleaders, stood Nelli, and unfortunately, she saw him too.

* * *

**Like I said, I have no clue how Dave and Buster's functions so I obviously don't own it. Thank you to everyone reviewing, favoriting, or even just reading this story. I for one, think this is a pile of crap, but that could just be my over-evaluation, probably not though. Anyways, thanks a lot, and I'll try to get more chapters online before school starts, because after summer is over, I probably won't be able to stay up till 5:22 secretly typing in the living room. I'm serious, I'm scared to death that my parents will find me and limit my computer time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Annabeth** (3rd Person POV)

Annabeth's day was supposed to be clean, smooth, easy. But alas, the fates obviously had other ideas. It had started out fine at least. Walking around the city, taking cheesy tourist pictures, and watching Percy trip over flat surfaces had amused her to no end. But then Percy got hungry, and it all went downhill from there. Not that she was surprised, Annabeth knew his stomach would get them killed one day, whether it be turned into stone or run over by a Harley. But she never would've guessed that teenage girls could be even worse than being squashed into roadkill by an angry war god. What do you know? You learn something new everyday.

So as Annabeth pondered over teenage girls' threat to mankind, high heels clicked their way over to the large table, no doubt to start another major headache. With a curious glance to her left, she saw Percy's head buried behind the menu, muttering a string of Greek curses. Annabeth raised her eyebrows, who had taught him _that _adjective? Around her, the rest of their friends had stopped talking, and was following the girl with curious eyes- except for Percy of course, he wanted anything besides finding out what the girl was here for.

"Ahem!" she said, drawing attention to herself. Annabeth turned toward the girl, her face an unreadable mask.

"Yes Nelli, how may we help you?" Annabeth greeted, with stony politeness.

"I wasn't talking to you Annie," she sneered. Annabeth glared. And then suddenly, Nelli's face morphed back into it's Barbie doll image. Plastic and fake. "I was talking to Percy." Percy froze, and slowly lifted his face out of the beer and beverage options.

Warily, Percy spoke, "Do you need something?" He visibly winced. What a horrible choice of words.

"As a matter of fact," she started, tracing her finger down Percy's arm. Annabeth glared even harder. "I do need something. You." Percy yelped, and yanked his arm away.

"Nope," he quickly said, "no can do. Nu-uh. No way. I have a girlfriend." He then shoved Annabeth in front of him, and shielded himself. Annabeth rolled her eyes, what happened to all his bravado from the lunch room?

"Well she doesn't have to know," Nelli stated, shrugging as if they were discussing the weather. That was the last straw, Annabeth exploded. How dare she!

"Listen here and listen good, you hear?" she exclaimed, shoving a finger at Nelli. "He's taken. As in not available. As in not on the market. As in _not yours_. Got it?" Annabeth fumed. Nelli clenched her jaw, "Who are you to say that?"

Annabeth threw her hands up in the air, "You dumb brained idiot. I'm his girlfriend!" Nelli blinked her fake lashes.

"Got any proof?"

Annabeth groaned, unable to take it any longer. Suddenly, Percy stood up and grabbed her by the arm.

"You want proof?" he exclaimed, "you got it!" And then, without a warning, he turned Annabeth around and smacked his lips onto hers. For a split second, Annabeth tensed up, but then relaxed and started kissing back. As usual, her brain turned to mush, unable to comprehend Nelli's frustrated scream, the workers' amused expressions, or the Stoll's wolf whistles. They kissed for...seconds? Minutes? Years? Annabeth didn't know, or care, until a finger tapped her shoulder. She reluctantly unattached herself, and turned to toward the person interrupting her piece of heaven. Standing at the front of the table, was a blushing- and clearly disappointed- waitress. The drinks were on a large tray in her arms, and she set them down.

"I'd hate to...interrupt, but I'll have to ask you to um... hold back on the PDA. You're disturbing the other customers. The two looked around, and there was indeed a whole bunch of turned heads. Funny, they weren't there when they came in.

"Oh..." Percy blushed, "oops?"

"Yeah," the waitress agreed, "oops. Anyways, what can I get for you all today?"

* * *

So after lunch, the boys decided to kill some more time. Annabeth stood by the side with Thalia as she watched Percy challenge Clarisse to another air hockey game. Which would inevitably be his sixteenth loss in a row.

"So, Annie," Thalia began, "enjoy the meal?" Annabeth spared the hunter a glance to see a pair of quirking lips.

"Don't start with me Thals."

"Aw c'mon, I thought it was entertaining."

Annabeth leaned up against the ski ball machine. "Well I'm glad you enjoy high school dramas," she muttered sarcastically.

"Wanna talk?" Thalia tentatively questioned. Annabeth raised her eyebrows,

"When did you become a 'talker'? I figured you would just go and beat her up."

"Well," Thalia answered with a shrug, "I figured that if I have to talk teenage girls into joining the hunt, I might as well practice on you."

"I'm honored Thals. I really am."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied, nudging Annabeth's shoulder, "but seriously, you okay?"

"I'm fine, just kinda annoyed you know?"

"No I don't."

"Well I'm fine. But what about you?"

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked, scrunching her eyebrows together.

"You know, do you feel immortal?"

"No, not really. But I can see you getting taller than me," she joked.

"Seriously Thalia, don't you have any regrets about joining the hunt?" Annabeth asked.

"My only regret is not joining sooner. Could've saved me a lot of trouble," she replied flatly. But Annabeth could detect the falseness of her tone.

"Thals," Annabeth said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, "think about your decision. At least look at it from all the angles before you do something you really regret."

Thalia looked at Annabeth, not wanting to meet her eyes, "Like what?"

"You know what I'm talking about Thals. The prophecy is over, and you can do what _you _want."

"The hunt is what I want," Thalia muttered. Annabeth looked at the girl sadly.

"Maybe it is, but you know, regret is the worst feeling in the world. Knowing you could've done something, but didn't. All I'm saying Thalia, is that maybe a hundred years from now, you might wish you made a different decision." Thalia just shoved her hands into her pockets and walked away.

"Hey," Percy mumbled into Annabeth's hair, "what happened?"

"Nothing Percy. We were just talking."

* * *

When they arrived at the apartment doors, Percy kicked up his skateboard, and held the door open for the group. As they awkwardly waited for the elevator, Annabeth noticed that Thalia had taken the stairs without anyone noticing. Annabeth frowned, maybe she was angrier than Annabeth had assumed. After reaching the seventh floor, Annabeth was the first to climb out, unlocking the door in record time, and earning a few suspicious glances along the way.

The group apartment was quite large, it had six bedrooms, and two sets of bunk beds in each. Flicking on the lights, Annabeth walked over to the room she shared with Thalia. She turned the knob, it was locked.

"Thalia?" Annabeth heard a muffled sigh and a lock turning. Walking in, she saw that the lights were turned off, and Thalia's form lay quietly on the bottom bunk closest to the door.

"Annabeth, I don't know what to do," she weakly mumbled.

"Well," Annabeth said, sitting down next to her, "what do you feel like doing?"

"That's the problem," she said dryly, "I just don't know anymore."

* * *

**So, you like? Well I hope you do. And um, I kinda need your help. See, I don't know where exactly I'm going with this Thalia thing. Does she stay a hunter? Or should she quit. I'd like to see what you'd like to see, so leave a review telling me what you prefer. No guarantees though.  
As a side note, I don't know why, but I really like the line "...back into it's Barbie doll image. Plastic and fake." It's probably because I wrote it but...Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Percy** (3rd Person POV)

After the first few hectic weeks, the days went by easily enough. There were no monster attacks, no divine intervention, and certainly no threat to mankind. In all, this was the most peaceful year Percy had probably ever experienced. But when had the word peaceful ever applied to demigods?

"I'm going mom!"

"Have a good day honey. Pick up some milk later okay?"

"Sure." After Percy locked the door, he headed toward the elevator, and waited, and waited, and waited... Percy groaned in frustration, and started toward the stairs when the elevator doors opened with a _ding_.

"Finally," Percy sighed, he turned back and jumped a foot in the air. There, squished inside the small elevator, was a slobbering, tail waggling, and extremely excited Ms. O' Leary. Percy stared at the hellhound, trying to comprehend the image before him. Now for most people, a hellhound the size of a tank would be the worst surprise on a Monday morning, but when had Percy ever been that lucky? No, the fates decided to have fun, and screw with his life some more.

"How have you been, hero?"

_Oh Styx._

* * *

"So, Percy, how has life been treating you?"

"Oh, life's fine."

"That's good to hear." Percy stood with Calypso in the elevator. And even without a giant hellhound between them, it would still be one of the most awkward rides he'd ever had- including the one time he had to ride with Athena and Poseidon...together.

"So...what brings you to Manhattan?"

"Lord Zeus sent me here to be educated," she replied. Percy froze. _No. No. No. N- _"at a school," _No. N-_ "I think it's called Goode." Percy sighed, the gods must be enjoying this.

_Ding!_

The doors opened, and Ms. O' Leary pounded out, scaring a couple of businessmen in the lobby. Their eyes widened, and they scrambled out of the room screaming something about rabid honey badgers. Percy stepped out, and went up to her.

"Hey I," cue slobbering, "yeah, I missed you too, but you can't stay here," Percy said, rubbing the hellhound behind the ears. She whimpered and nudged Percy, trying to convince him otherwise. "I'd love it, but we have no room for you in my apartment. And I don't think Paul could stand your bodily fluids," he added with a low chuckle, "so how 'bout you go to Camp, and I'll visit you during break, it's just a couple months away." Ms. O' Leary whimpered, but nodded. "Good girl! I'll visit as soon as I can alright?"

"Woof!"  
Alright, good girl!" And with that, Ms. O' Leary jumped into the shadows and disappeared. Calypso went up and stood next to him.

"You are very good with her," she observed.

"Well, she is my pet."

"I see." They stood in silence until Calypso suddenly spoke up, "Why do you hate me now?" Percy was taken aback.

"I don't hate you," he frowned.

"It certainly seems like it," she added, picking at the hem of her white cotton dress.

"Well that's because-"

_Ding!_

The doors opened again, and a group of chattering teens climbed out. As soon as the group saw Percy and Calypso, they instantly quieted down.

"Err, hey guys," Percy greeted nervously, "you've heard of Calypso right?"

With wide eyes, Connor spoke up, "You mean the chick that trapped Odysseus on the island, right?"

"That would be correct," she replied quietly. Someone quickly turned and ran out the doors, a streak of blonde hair trailing behind. Percy's eyebrows scrunched up before lighting up with realization.

"Annabeth wait!" and he too, ran out the doors.

* * *

"Your job for the rest of the rest of the week is to read chapters six through ten. I expect all of you to be ready to discuss on Friday," assigned Paul. He pointedly shifted his gaze toward Percy. Percy rolled his eyes, there was very little chance of _that_ happening. Besides, Percy had more pressing matters on his hand. Pretending to be interested with the swirling words, Percy shifted his eyes toward the front of the room. Usually, Annabeth sat next to him, scolding him about his work ethic and trying to get him to pay attention. But today, she sat in the front of the room, four rows aways from him, and without a single glance toward Percy's direction. Percy sighed. He would have to do something about this.

The bell rang, and Percy hurriedly packed up, shoving his papers into his beat up zipper binder. He ran out the door, following the swift girl down the halls and into the lunchroom. Already halfway up the line, Annabeth saw his pleading green eyes. She tried to wiggle out the line, but honestly, who can push through a crowd of hungry seniors. Wisely opting out of the "meatloaf pasta special" Percy was the first to sit down at the table. Luckily for him, Annabeth was nearing the check out station, and would have nowhere else to go. However, Percy's accomplished mood went down the drain as a dark blue tray was set down beside him. And despite the suspicious looking blob of meat next to him, the thing that made Percy lose his appetite most, was the girl who sat down behind it.

Now Percy wasn't lying when he told Calypso he didn't hate her. She had saved his life. She had taken care of him, and treated his nasty burns. And despite the myths, she had let him go back with only a sad goodbye. There was no way he could ever hate her. No, if there was anyone he would blame for his troubles, it would be the fates. But he didn't, because no one in their right mind would insult the fates. To sum this all up, Percy didn't hate Calypso, he just hated the fact that she was making Annabeth upset.

"I think I understand," Calypso suddenly said.

Percy turned to her, breaking eye contact with Annabeth, "Understand what?"

"The fates' intentions. I finally understand."

"Well I don't."

"It's not your fault Percy," she advised, "this is a part of life."

"Try telling that to Annabeth," Percy groaned. Annabeth had walked away with her lunch, deciding instead to sit with the debate team. Calypso softly chuckled.

"We both know she won't listen to a word I say." Percy blew out a stream of air. Even he understood what was making Annabeth ignore him.

"Yeah, I know."

"So why don't you do something?" she asked curiously.

"'Cause, I'm giving her some space you know. So she won't gut me with my own sword. Don't girls like space?"

"Sometimes," Calypso murmured, "but other times, we like it better if someone chased after us."

* * *

**There you go. I finally managed to type out a chapter. Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Annabeth **(3rd Person POV)

Annabeth was tired of this. She was tired of all of it. She knew should've tried to convince Chiron to let her stay at camp. She should've done_ something_. But she didn't, and it's too late to go back now. The gods were stupid. High school doesn't provide education; it provides stress.

As her internal rant continued, Annabeth couldn't help but look across the cafeteria. Percy had apparently given up on trying to make eye contact, and had started to talk to Calypso. She stabbed the glob of inedible meat on her tray with a plastic spork, picturing the lunch as faces and her spork as her shiny bronze dagger. Couldn't the world give her a break? She had held up its sky for gods' sake, that's got to be worth something!

"Stupid life, stupid Nelli, stupid Calypso, stupid Aphrodite…" she muttered darkly under her breath. By now, her lunch was totaled, and the kids next to her had nervously scooted away. _Darling, I might not be like your mother and her owls, but believe me, I know what I'm doing. _Annabeth jerked her head up quickly, scanning the room for the voice, scaring the people closest to her out of their wits. _I'm not there darling, _the voice laughed, _I'm in here. _Briefly, Annabeth questioned her sanity. Perhaps the stress and anger finally caused the young demigod to crack. But then she realized that was ridiculous.

'I don't have the time for your games Aphrodite,' she thought angrily. No need to scare her neighbors anymore by talking to a voice in her head. No, that wouldn't be very positive for her reputation. _Ah, but _I _have plenty of time for my games._ Annabeth stabbed another chunk of meat. Why did she even bother to reason with the goddess? _Because you know I'm doing what's best for you._ 'Yeah, and that makes me feel so much better,' she replied sarcastically. _Tsk tsk my dear, _Aphrodite chided, _this is to strengthen your relationship, not harm it. I would never do such a thing!_

"I'm sure you wouldn't, Aphrodite," Annabeth muttered under her breath, "It's not like you gain anything from watching half-bloods suffer."

"Who watches who suffer?" asked a deep voice behind her. Jumping out of her skin, she turned around to face a boy. Annabeth supposed he was good looking,. Blonde hair, blue eyes, heck, he kind of reminded her of Luke.

"Oh, it's nothing," Annabeth replied, embarrassed that someone had heard her, "I was just uh..."

"Oh you don't have to tell me ," he said, brushing it off, "by the way, my name is Lucas." Annabeth's eyebrows went up. His name was Lucas. Seriously?

"Oh, nice to meet you, I'm Annabeth."

"Nice to meet you too. Are you new here? I haven't seen around," he asked, shaking her hand.

"Yeah, I uh transferred."

"Oh, that's cool," he said, "mind if I sit here?" Annabeth glanced at the empty seats around her (the debate team had moved), and then glanced back at Percy. He was staring at her apologetically, surrounded by fangirls while the rest of their friends chatted happily. Annabeth quickly turned back to Lucas.

"Yeah go ahead."

"Thanks! I was worried you might say no," he said, sliding in next to her.

"Why would I say no?"

"'Cause of Percy Jackson of course! He _is_ your boyfriend right?"

"Yeah..." Annabeth confirmed, a little bit confused.

"Well guys usually don't like it when other guys sit with their girlfriends," he explained casually, biting into a carrot.

"Well girls don't like it when other girls throw themselves onto the said boyfriend either," she muttered angrily. Lucas stared at her curiously.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"Oh you have no idea."

* * *

The rest of the lunch period went by smoothly for Annabeth. Surprisingly, Lucas was good company. He listened, he talked, and he was just plain nice for a senior. They talked about school, their homes, and what Annabeth enjoyed the most about Lucas was that he didn't ask about Percy. For the thirty minutes they talked, not one awkward silence popped up. Annabeth didn't care that she was sitting alone with a senior. She didn't care about all the attention being drawn onto her and Lucas. And, she kept telling herself, she didn't care about the sad expression on Percy's face.

Then the bell rang, and it was all over. Lucas went back to his group of friends, and left Annabeth alone. All of her friends hurried to their classes. And Percy, well simply put, Percy was giving her the cold shoulder. A taste of her own medicine, if you will. She sighed, and walked down the crowded halls. Up ahead, she spotted Nelli and her posse. Annabeth grit her teeth and pushed through the hall faster, wanting to be as far away from the blood sucking brats as godly possible.

"Hey, Annabell!" screeched a nasally voice. And as if by magic, the mob stopped and grew quiet. Annabeth reluctantly looked back at the girl.

"What do you want now?"

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to show you something," she arrogantly boasted.

"And what if I don't want to see what you have?" Annabeth replied with annoyance.

"Oh trust me Annie, you'll _love _what you see," she informed. Annabeth bit her lip. Something in her gut said _don't listen to her, she's lying_. But Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, and daughters of Athena need to know things.

"Sure whatever, where is this something?"

"Oh I'm so glad you agreed Annie," she squealed, then, with a darker tone she added, "after school, under the bleachers." Annabeth bit her lip, this felt wrong.

"And if I don't show?"

"Well then you might not find out a little something about your precious little _Seaweed Brain,_" she added. Annabeth's eyes widened. What was this about Percy? And how did she know about his nickname?

"Yeah," Annabeth angrily spat out, "I'll be there."

"Oh good," squealed Nelli, "I just can't wait!" Then the bell rang, and everyone dispersed, not wanting to be late. Annabeth looked around, and found a pair of dark green eyes. He stared at her for a couple of seconds before he walked away. Annabeth swallowed a feeling of despair. What had she gotten herself into?

* * *

**Oh my, I'm an even worse updater than Mr. Riordan. And even he has a reason of doing it! Blah, I'm horrible schedules. Anyways, review please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Percy **(3rd Person POV)

Percy wasn't having a very good day. First, his old crush, the daughter of a titan, transferred to his school. Then, his girlfriend ran away from him. And now, she was talking to Lucas Huffman, a senior football player. It was safe to say, Percy wasn't a very happy camper. His friends stared at him, silently asking '_why don't you do something?'_. And in response, Percy just glared back.

"Hey Percy!" squealed a voice next to him. Percy groaned and looked up.

"I don't have time for you Nelli,"he muttered, "go away." Around her, Nelli's posse of girls giggled.

"What do you have time for then?" she asked innocently, "certainly not your girlfriend. I mean, you're sitting all alone while Anniebelle is chatting it up with hunky Lucas Huffman. You could do _so_ much better!"

"Her name is Annabeth, and I'm sitting with my friends," he mumbled pathetically. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his Thalia looking at him carefully. "And I have no problem with her sitting...wherever she wants." Percy glared at his fish sticks, not wanting to talk about the subject anymore.

"Well I feel bad for you, I mean with your own girlfriend ditching you for a total stranger," she said sympathetically. It was then Thalia spoke up, surprising both Nelli and her posse.

"Annabeth doesn't _ditch_ anyone! She's protective of her friends, and there's no way she could leave Seaweed Brain over here. She-" Thalia's rant was cut off by a loud laugh from where Annabeth was sitting. The whole table turned toward it. There, Annabeth was laughing at something Lucas had said. She was leaning on his arm, and doubled over in laughter. Percy's jaw clenched.

"Oh you poor thing," Nelli said, brushing off Thalia's failed attempt at a fight. "She doesn't even care about how you feel. It must sting." Percy looked up at Annabeth, a sad look in his eyes.

"Yeah, it kinda does," he mumbled, completely forgetting his animosity for the girl next to him.

"Hey, why don't you try out for football?" Nelli suggested.

"Why should I?" Percy asked, looking at her suspiciously.

"Well if your girl likes football players, then why don't you become one?"

"I don't know, football isn't exactly my game. I'm a swimmer," Percy explained.

"Well then come early, I can show you how to play," Nelli suggested helpfully.

"You can?" asked Percy doubtfully, then he narrowed his eyes, "why are you helping me?"

"I don't know, guilty conscience maybe," she replied with a shrug, "I mean you just seem so...sad right now. Anyways, I don't hit on guys who don't have girlfriends." Percy was confused.

"But...I still have a girlfriend," he said, cocking his head like a puppy, "I mean, I think do." Nelli looked at the boy, genuinely sad, surprising the whole table- including herself. She shook her head, clearing the kind thoughts.

"Well, you might lose her at the rate it's going now." Percy sipped on his tasteless chocolate milk.

"Yeah, sure I'll try out," he finally agreed.

"Oh good!" exclaimed Nelli, "I can't wait!" After she left, all of Percy's friends looked at him disbelievingly.

"Gods Percy!" cried Thalia, "can't you see she's up to something?"

"Yeah Perce," Nico agreed, "I don't think this is a good idea." Everybody else nodded their heads, all agreeing to the words of Percy's closest friends.

"Yeah, well do you guys have any better ideas?" he asked rhetorically. At his friends' stoic expressions, he added "I didn't think so."

The bell rang, and Percy got up just in time to see Lucas give Annabeth a parting word before walking away. He clenched his fist, crushing his newly assigned History worksheet, and stormed out the hall. When he was almost to his fifth period class, he heard Annabeth yell something at Nelli. Curious, he turned around.

"-be there."

"Oh good," Nelli replied, "I just can't wait." Percy frowned, wait for what? Before he knew it, the bell rang, and the only ones left in the hall was Annabeth and him. She stared at him, and he glared back. Not being able to stand it any more, he turned and headed into class, leaving a distraught Annabeth behind.

* * *

Percy's class was almost over. There was five minutes left, and half an hour before football tryouts. Needless to say, Percy was nervous. He wasn't a football kind of guy. He never interacted with the jocks or the cheerleaders. And he definitely wasn't the kind of guy that like being tackled to the ground. But if this would save his crumbling relationship, he was all for it. Suddenly the intercom came on, and the vice principal's voice echoed through the room.

"_Good afternoon Spartans! As you all know, parent conferences are next week. Please remind them to come. Secondly, sign ups for clubs have started. Come into the office before or after school to register. And our final announcement for today is that tryouts for football have will take place after school all week. Students will have thirty minutes to prepare before they are to report to the field. Have a great day, and remember, to try out, students must have a current sports physical." R-i-i-i-ng!_

Percy fidgeted nervously with the football. He glanced up at Nelli, and once again wondered what happened to her. Percy was used to obnoxious, bratty, skimpy Nelli. What he wasn't used to was a nice, encouraging Nelli, and that's what she had instantly become in three hours.

"Come on Percy, throw the ball," she yelled, clapping her hands. "just bend your wrist while you throw it, and it'll be a perfect spiral."

"Why are you being so nice?" he asked, "you're supposed to mean mean to me. You're supposed to be annoying." For a moment, she didn't reply.

"My boyfriend broke up with me," she suddenly blurted out before covering up her mouth. Percy walked up to Nelli awkwardly.

"You had a boyfriend all this time?" Percy asked, extremely surprised.

"Yeah," she replied, "until an hour ago."

"Oh," Percy said, rocking awkwardly on his heels, "then why were you bugging me if you had a boyfriend?"

"Oh, he didn't mind. In fact, he did it too."

"But you guys were in a relationship," Percy said. He was confused, even more than when he found out that Annabeth had a belly button. "Aren't couples supposed to be...you know, a couple?"

She chuckled, "Like you and Annabeth?"

Percy gulped, "Yeah, like me and Annabeth."

"I'm sorry by the way," she said.

"Sorry for what?"

"For being such a bitch to you and your girlfriend."

"Oh, that's okay."

"It's okay?" Nelli asked skeptically, "I treated you like a piece of meat for years, and then suddenly it's okay?"

"Well you apologized right?"

"Well yeah but-"

"Then you're forgiven," he grinned at her.

"Oh...thanks," she said, flashing him with a genuine smile. 'She's actually kind of pretty whenshe smiles' Percy thought. He shook his head, this _was not_ happening!

_'Oh don't worry Percy. This is natural.' _

_'_Aphrodite?'

_'I'm so glad you recognized me!' _Suddenly, a thought popped into Percy's mind.

'Hey Aphrodite, can you tell me how to get Annabeth to stop being mad at me?' Aphrodite?' Aphrodite!' The love goddess didn't answer. Percy groaned in frustration, forgetting the girl he was conversing with.

"Percy?"

"Oh, uh hey..."

"What's wrong? You completely zoned out," she asked kindly.

"Oh, I was um, thinking about um..."

"Annabeth right?"

"Yeah..." Percy whispered. Then, Nelli jumped up, startling Percy.

"I forgot! I'm supposed to be kissing you!"

"Yeah! Wait-what!" Percy exclaimed.

"Oh, after lunch, I kinda told Annabeth to come here, and I was supposed to be kissing you by now," she replied guiltily.

"So you set me up?" he asked.

"Yeah, but then Andrew broke up with me, and I guess, well I suppose I felt kind of...bad," she said with a shrug.

"So you were all mean and during lunch, but then Andrew broke up with you, but then you realized the error of your ways, and decided to be a better person?" Percy asked, trying to sum up the conversation in his own Seaweed Brain-like way.

"Well, I guess that's what happened," Nelli replied. After a short silence, she added, "You know Percy, you're the first one I told about Andrew,"

"Really? I beat your best friends?" Percy questioned jokingly, tossing the football at the girl. She caught it with a_ oof_!

"Well they weren't such great friends anyways," she replied, "are you sure you've never thrown a football before?" Percy chuckled.

"Positive."

* * *

**Alright, two chapters in a day! So I don't have school today or tommorow, so I decided to type out another chapter. I wanted Nelli to play a bigger part in this story than just a bratty cheerleader, so I made her nicer. Tell me if the transition was too quick for you guys, so I can improve on my future stories. Anyways I got a review by _Nightwolfxo_about the two kissing, and I'll admit, I thought of that route, but it was just too cliche. I'm already using an extremely overused plot, so I try to stay as far away from cliches as possible. Obviously though, if you can guess where my mind was wandering, I'll have to work on that!**

**Oh and _Athena grl huntress_ brought to my attention about the five chapter preview of Mark of Athena on Google Books. I must say, I saw a whole bunch of ideas on Fanfiction in the book. If you have time, and can't wait for the release date, you should go check it out. Holy cow this is a long A/N! Anyways, as usual, hope you enjoyed, and please review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Annabeth **(3rd Person POV)

Annabeth sat in Social Studies, trying to keep her focus on her notes. The worksheet was easy, pathetically easy, but her mind couldn't help but wander from the background of the Vietnam War. What did Nelli have that was so important to Annabeth? Why had she insisted that Annabeth show? The only logical conclusion she could come up with was that Nelli was a monster, and she was going to kill off the demigods one by one. Okay, so maybe it wasn't _completely _logical, but hey, Annabeth was a bundle of emotions. Her brain wasn't functioning properly. That's why Annabeth was so happy when the announcements came on. The sooner the whole thing was over with, the better.

After the bell rang, she quickly sped down the halls, clutching her books to her chest as she fought through the mobs of weary students. Goode was a large school, so it was no surprise that even with godly blood, it took her a couple of minutes to reach the main hall. She shoved and elbowed her way against the students heading in an opposite direction, much like a salmon swimming upstream. Then, as she reached the gym doors, Annabeth was shoved harshly toward the wall as a group of arrogant seniors blurred passed. She grit her teeth and told herself she didn't need trouble -she would get enough from Nelli anyways. And even though Annabeth convinced herself to ignore them, she couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"-she was all like, 'Don't leave, I really like you'" mimicked one. He was grinning, putting his hands on his heart like one of those overdramatic actors on TV. Annabeth immediately decided she hated his guts...and everything else about him. The rest of his buddies laughed, as if breaking a girl's heart was the funniest thing they've ever heard. Annabeth drew in a breath, _just ignore them_.

"Andrew, man," said another regretfully, "I wish I'd been there. Her face must've been priceless"

"Please, like you need to watch someone else break up," scoffed the guy next to him "you break up with a girl every other day." Annabeth was disgusted by the guys' behavior. They treated girls like baseball cards, trading and adding them to their collections. And to think, she had saved all of their lives not three months ago. Not being able to take anymore, Annabeth sneaked past the guys, went into the girl's locker room, and walked out the connecting door.

As her feet stepped onto the green grass, Annabeth sucked in a breath of fresh air. Being in a room with those jerks had seriously spiked her anger, and gods knows she didn't need any extra of that. She drew in another gulp of air, prepared herself for the inevitable conflict ahead of her, and headed toward the football bleachers. Step after step, Annabeth walked deeper into Nelli's trap. What could Nelli possibly have that would cause her to be so confident? Annabeth frowned in frustration. She hated not knowing things.

As she got closer, she began to hear voices. Familiar laughter echoed in Annabeth's ears, and she furrowed her eyebrows. What was Percy doing here? A sickening feeling entered her stomach, and Annabeth quickened her pace.

"-so you really forgive me?" she heard Nelli ask as she reached hearing range.

"Of course, people change, and trust me, I've had enough experience with that to know when it true or not. Anyways, everyone deserves a second chance, don't they," she heard Percy reply kindly. Annabeth's eyes widened, how could Percy suddenly stop hating Nelli. She was horrible! With a start, Annabeth also realized Percy was comparing Nelli with Luke. Luke was nothing like Nelli!

"Thanks!" Nelli exclaimed, throwing her arms over Percy's neck. Annabeth glared at the girl, and then glared harder when she saw that Percy was just letting her hang on him like a spider. And at that moment, Annabeth would much rather see a tarantula than Nelli; and for a child of Athena, that's saying something. Annabeth watched the two until a middle aged man blew a whistle, and all the boys ran up to him, including Percy. She saw Nelli climb up the bleachers, and wave at him. She saw Percy smile at her, and wave back. And then Annabeth left.

* * *

Annabeth grabbed Thalia by her arm and dragged her into their shared room. She slammed the door, locked it, and kicked it, scaring the eavesdropping Stolls on the other side. After she heard their footsteps stumble away, she turned to an extremely confused hunter. Thalia sat on the bottom bunk, her eyebrows raised, and her arms crossed, no doubt wondering what the Hades was going on with the her favorite architect of Olympus.

"I have a problem."

"Uh-huh," Thalia sarcastically commented, "I never would've guessed." Annabeth glared at her.

"This is serious." Thalia immediately straightened up.

"What is it? A god? A titan? A blood-thirsty empousai?"

"Close," replied Annabeth, "a Nelli." Thalia stared at her disbelievingly.

"A Nelli?"

"Yes," she replied, throwing her hands up, "didn't you hear me?"

"Well, yeah but an annoying high school cheerleader isn't exactly important..." Thalia trailed off, looking at Annabeth curiously. "I thought you said she didn't bother you."

"She doesn't!" Annabeth defended hotly.

"Then what's the problem?"

"Okay, so maybe she does worry me a _little_ tiny bit..."

Silence.

"Okay, _more _than a bit..."

Silence.

"...She _really _bothers me, happy now?"

"No," Thalia replied, "but it helps if you admit it." Annabeth glared at the spiky haired girl for a minute before tossing herself onto her own bunk. She screamed into her pillow. Thalia just stared at the poor girl.

"You're right, this is a problem."

* * *

Eventually, Annabeth tired herself out, and explained everything to her friend. Thalia just sat there, and soaked up the the girl's explanation of her temporary -or not, you never know- insanity.

"Did you ever consider, that Nelli really has changed?" Thalia asked.

"No, why would I?" Annabeth replied in shock, "no one that bratty can change in three hours." Thalia shrugged nonchalantly.

"Just a thought, I guess."

* * *

**So its been a month since my last update, and I'm sorry for that. But if any of are still reading this (which I'm beginning to doubt),I hope you like it.**

**P.S. C'mon guys, no reviews for chapter 9? I live off that stuff! So yeah, review please!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Percy **(3rd Person POV)

Percy stepped into the showers gratefully, the hot water easing his sore joints and muscles. As he stood under the shower head he thought back to the past hour. Coach Cook had all the players that didn't know what position they wanted to play stand in a line. Then each and every one of them were pushed into the Underworld. ...Okay, so maybe not, but to Percy, he might as well be in the Fields of Punishment.

* * *

_WHOOOO! Blasted the dreaded whistle. Percy, quickly ran up to the coach._

_"I want each of you to do fifty push-ups, y'hear!_

_"Yessir!"_

_"And if any of you slack off, that'll be an extra twenty!"_

_"Yessir!"_

* * *

_WHOOOO! Screeched the whistle again._

_"Run five miles! That's twenty laps around the field!"_

_"Yes...sir..."_

_"Oh toughen up, if you get onto the team, you'll be running them every day!"_

_It was then that half the group left._

* * *

_WHOOOO!_

_"Don't be a girl, tackle it!"_

* * *

_WHOOOO!_

_"What are you doing Jackson?! You run through the tires, you don't kiss them!"_

* * *

_WHOOOO!_

_"It's a ball, not your mother! Throw it!"_

* * *

Percy groaned, the water was getting cold, and his son of the sea god powers hadn't fully relieved his aching muscles yet. He sighed and got out. Five minutes later, he left the changing room, and went to his locker. Stuffing his textbooks and folders into his beat up backpack, he groaned again. There, behind his Algebra II book, was the book Paul had assigned him to read. He glanced at it again, and slammed the door shut.

"Whoa, what's got you in a bunch?" asked a voice behind him,

"Nothing," Percy replied, "I'm just tired."

"Huh, was the football thing a bad idea?"

"Yes, Nelli, the football thing was a horrible idea."

"Sorry," she apologized.

"You better be," he mumbled, but Percy smiled at her anyways.

The two walked together on the streets of New York. Percy was amazed at how human Nelli was when she was away from her 'friends'. They talked and joked, as if they had always been friends.

"So, how do you know all the new kids?" she asked.

"Oh, they all go to my summer camp," Percy replied smoothly.

"But why did they all suddenly decide to enroll at Goode?"

"'Cause I'm there, obviously," he joked.

"Ha ha," said Nelli flatly, "you're such a riot."

"Aren't I!" he agreed in a falsetto. They both looked at each other and busted out laughing, earning more than a few strange looks from the people on the street. After they calmed themselves, Percy spoke up.

"Hey, I got to go. This is my apartment building."

"Oh, alright, see you later Percy," she waved.

"See you," he called back, climbing up the front steps. Percy unlocked the lobby doors, and clicked the elevator button. When it arrived, Percy stepped in, not noticing the other passenger in the corner. Percy started to press 3, but a hand snapped out, and stopped him.

"Ahh!" he exclaimed, drawing Riptide, and uncapping it.

"Whoa, whoa whoa," said the boy, stepping out of the shadows, "Put that away!"

"Gods Nico, you scared me," Percy exclaimed.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Yeah, you are," muttered Percy, "Anyways, why'd you decide to spook me?"

"I'm here to save your life," replied Nico seriously. Percy raised his eyebrows.

"Uh-huh."

"I am!"

"What is it exactly that you're saving me from," asked Percy skeptically. Nico looked at him dead serious, and said,

"Annabeth, a very pissed of Annabeth waiting for you on the third floor." Percy's head snapped up, and he hit the lobby button. The elevator stopped rising, and started to descend.

"Yeah, I thought so."

"Wait, is Annabeth still mad at Calypso?" he asked, wondering why the girl would hold a grudge for such a silly thing.

"Ehh, I guess she is still kind of ticked off, but that's not the main problem," Nico replied, shrugging.

"Then what's-" Percy was cut off by the opening elevator doors, and the revealing girl that now stood in front of him.

"Percy," she greeted with crossed arms.

* * *

"So I heard you tried out for football," she started, glaring at him.

"Uh, you heard about that?"

"Yeah, from _Nelli_," she spat.

"Yeah, I...ohhh," Percy said in realization. Annabeth rolled her eyes, amused for a second before glaring again.

"You said, you didn't like football."

"I don't!" Percy defended.

"Then why did you _try out_?!"

"'Cause you-" Percy mumbled quietly.

"'Cause I what?" she demanded, cutting Percy off.

"Because you like football players!" he yelled, losing his temper.

"What?" she asked, dropping her mask of anger, replacing it with a cute mask of confusion.

"'Cause you like football players," he repeated, digging his shoe into the faded red carpet.

"What would make you think that?" she asked, genuinely curious, looking into Percy's eyes. Percy looked away.

"At lunch, you'd rather sit with Lucas Huffman than me." Annabeth sighed.

"That's not because of you -okay it kinda is," she admitted, "but I sat with him because you didn't want me around."

"What gave you that idea?" asked Percy, finally looking back into her eyes.

"Well..."

"You're my link to the mortal world," Percy joked, relieving some of the built up tension, "of course I want you around."

* * *

That night Percy lay in his bed, staring at his blue ceiling. Outside, the noisy never-ending chaos of New York echoed in his ears, but it was nothing compared to the chaos in Percy's life. And although it was nearing midnight, Percy's mind refused to let him fall asleep, and instead deciding to entertain him with what might happen. Sure him and Annabeth had made up, but what's to say something like this wouldn't happen again. Percy could only hope the fates were on his side. He scoffed dryly, yeah, _that'll_ happen. And as if to prove a point, Percy jolted awake, suddenly reminding himself of the History paper due tomorrow, the one he hadn't even started yet.

* * *

**Review?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Annabeth **(3rd Person POV)

Annabeth watched a bleary eyed son of Poseidon stumble into the classroom. After he plopped himself on the seat farthest from the front, he dumped his books on the ground and dropped his head onto the desk. Her curiosity piqued, she got up from her own desk -on the front row- and walked over to him.

She poked him.

Nothing.

She flicked him.

Nothing.

"Percy!" she whispered.

Nothing.

She grinned maniacally...and slapped him.

Still nothing.

Annabeth frowned, what was up with the Seaweed Brain?

When the bell finally rang, dismissing the English class, Annabeth walked over to Percy, who was still asleep. She smirked at the line of drool running from his lips to the desk before trying to snap him awake. She shook him, hard.

"Percy! Wake up!"

"Fivmominets," he muttered.

"No Kelp Head, get up now!"

"Nrggg"

"It's lunch time."

His head slowly raised, "Then what are we waiting for?"

"We're waiting for you to wipe the drool off your face." Percy frowned, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Oh."

"Uh-huh."

"Whatever," he mumbled, before sluggishly picking up his books and walking out the door, not waiting for Annabeth.

"Geez, what's got his tights in a twist?" she mumbled, before slinging on her bag, and following the boy. Annabeth caught Percy standing at his locker as everybody else streamed passed. He had bags under his eyes, and every movement he made looked like it hurt.

"Percy?" she worriedly questioned, "is everything okay?" He jumped, slamming his head on the locker door as he spun towards her. That caused the door to hit it's neighbor, and slam back into Percy's face.

"OW!" he exclaimed, holding his nose, "Holy mother of Zeus that hurt!" Annabeth, not able to contain her laughter, cracked up. Who could blame her, the situation was pretty funny. Apparently, Percy didn't think so.

"Iz bot unny!"

"You're invincible, suck it up," she replied, once she laughed her guts out of course.

"Oh, right," he mumbled, "I'm invincible." Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "It still hurt!"

"I'll bet it did."

"It did!"

"Whatever you say Mr. I-dipped-in-the-Styx-and-is-complaining-about-a-tiny-booboo."

"It's not a booboo and I'm not complaining!" he insisted.

"Mmhm."

"..."

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

"You're hopeless."

Once in the lunchroom however, whatever energy Percy got back was gone again. Next to him, Annabeth observed her boyfriend, worried that it might be because of her. He picked at his lunch, refusing to eat the "taco meat", gods only knew what it was actually made of. He nibbled at his sugar cookie, and sipped his milk. His friends noticed his depression.

"Hey Perce," said Grover, "I know it taste gross, but c'mon." The rest of the group nodded, showing their agreement.

"Yeah, at least eat the salad," added Katie, "there's nothing wrong with it. I would know."

"Sorry guys, it's just that I'm just so tired after yesterday," he said. For a second, Annabeth was worried he was talking about her. "I mean my joints G-man. They haven't been this bad since the whole thing at Mt. Tam."

"You're comparing holding up the sky to high school football tryouts?"

"Yes Malcolm, I am." Malcolm stared at him for a little while longer, before going back to his lunch. The sound of him eating his chips was the only thing breaking the silence. Eventually, Thalia flung a piece of lettuce at Nico.

"What the-?" Nico exclaimed. Thalia shrugged. It was still for one, two, three... Then all hell broke loose.

* * *

They all sat in the office, the boys grinning at each other, and the girls rolling their eyes. All of them had food in their hair. Every now and then, Thalia would pick a crumb or piece of taco meat out of her hair, and throw it at Percy. Which Percy would pick up and throw again toward Annabeth. And all of this would happen with Grover snickering in the background.

"I'll say," said Clarisse, "that wasn't bad for a Sparkle Face."

"Sparkle Face?" asked Thalia incredulously.

"'Cause you know, lightning sparkles," Clarisse replied nonchalantly, flicking a piece of Pringle out of her jacket.

"Lightning does not _sparkle_!"

"Yours does," Clarisse replied. Thalia looked at the girl.

"My lightning _Does. Not. Sparkle_!" she said, deathly quiet.

With raised eyebrows, Clarisse replied, "Yes, it kinda does."

"Well then you can shove my sparkling lightning up your-"

"So you admit it sparkles?" interrupted Travis. Both girls turned toward the boy and glared.

"Shut Up!"

Travis wisely decided to do just that.

A couple minutes later, Mrs. Greene walked in with the Principal. The man's face was red, Annabeth observed, overweight too. Not a very good sign for his blood pressure. Annabeth wouldn't be surprised if he had a heart attack right then and there.

"Kids," started Mrs. Greene, "Mr. Leverman would like to talk to you all."

"Yes," he backed, "we have _a lot_ to talk about." Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw Travis and Connor smirk. '_Oh we're screwed_'

"We're sorry for the food fight sir," blurted Grover.

"Yeah," added Katie, "it won't happen again."

"That's good to hear," mumbled Mr. Leverman, "but have you thought of the _CONSEQUENCES_?!" All of them leaned back at the volume of his voice. There was a very high chance they'd gone death. After a moment of silence, Principal Leverman sat down.

_Whoooooooooooooooooooooop_

Muffled snickers broke out, all of them trying to keep it in for risk of punishment. Even Annabeth had a hard time keeping back a smile.

"Who. Did. This?" asked the red faced principal, holding up the fattest whoopee cushion Annabeth had ever seen. On it, were the words "My Bad". Connor let out a snort.

"You, you did this?!" he yelled, pointing at Connor.

"No sir, we weren't even allowed in here," he defended, holding his hands up in surrender, "how could I've put that there?" Principal Leverman glared at the boy suspiciously.

"I don't care how it got in here. When it got in here. Or even why it's here to begin with," he said, forming a triumphant smile, "Because each and every one of you has detention."

"But sir-"

"For a month!" he added, slamming his fist down, "And you get to help clean the cafeteria. Plus you get to clean the bathrooms as well."

"That's not-"

"Would you like to add on another month Mr. Stoll?"

Connor gritted his teeth, "No sir."

"That's what I like to hear," he said,"you're dismissed."


	13. Chapter 13

**Percy **(3rd Person POV)

In Percy's mind, this was the worst day ever. Screw the Battle of Manhattan. Forget the end of the world. There was nothing in the world more stressful than a crappy paper, a body full of sore joints, and taco meat in a guy's hair during the first five hours of his day. And now he had another topping on his let's-make-Percy-feel-like-crap-pizza. Sure he was no stranger to detention, but that doesn't meant he _enjoyed _it! For gods' sake, didn't the boy deserve a break?

"Seaweed Brain, you alright?"

"No, Annabeth, I'm just _peachy_," he muttered. She frowned at him.

"No need to be such a grouch."

"I have every reason to be a grouch," Percy replied, dunking his squeegee into the bucket of soapy water. The group had gotten a pardon from class to clean the mess up, but in return, they were handed a pile of homework and no notes. Annabeth flicked a handful of water at him.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, you've been scrubbing the same spot for five minutes," she said. Percy looked down. There was indeed a single sparkling tile among the rest of its filthy friends.

"So what, I'm a perfectionist." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"I'll bet you are." Percy felt her stare on his back for a few more minutes before he decided to finally speak up.

"Umm, a little help?" She rolled her eyes again, but rolled up her sleaves and got her knees anyways.

"You know Percy," she started, "this is all your fault." He stared at her in disbelief.

"How the Hades is this my fault?!"

"I heard that!"

"Shut up Nico!"

"I mean you and your depressed self caused this," she replied, waving her arms around.

"How did my 'depressed self' cause a food fight? It was Thalia!"

"Well yes, but it was to fill the incredibly awkward silence that you," she said, poking at Percy's chest, "created."

"There was no awkward silence!"

"Sorry to burst your bubble Percy," interrupted Nico, "but there _was_ an awkward silence."

"Shut up Nico!" Percy was standing up now. "And I wasn't depressed, I'm tired."

"Tired of what?" Annabeth demanded.

"I already told you, football tryouts! Which because of this, I probably won't make!" he exclaimed. Percy was angry now, and he didn't even know why. He didn't care about football. To be honest, he was a bit relieved this screwed his chances up, but he wouldn't tell Annabeth that.

"You don't even _like _football!" Annabeth was standing up too, her fists clenched in anger. That was how Percy knew he had gone too far, but he was still stressed, and had to get it all out somehow.

"Well maybe I like it now."

"And maybe I suddenly want a pet tarantula!"

"Maybe you should get one!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Fine!"

"Fine, go get one!"

"I will!" The two stood face in face, fuming at each other. Percy shifted his jaw. He needed to cool down, and he knew the perfect way to do it.

"This is ridiculous," he mumbled.

"You're telling me."

"Let's ditch."

"Ditch detention?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"Grover'll cover for us."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

* * *

Percy sat in the front seat of Paul's Prius. He had been reluctant to hand Percy the keys at first, but figured there was no stopping him. Which is why Percy Jackson was now going sixty on a forty road, and scaring the wits out of the girl next to him. The windows were rolled down, and Percy's monster-tracking-proof iPod was plugged into the speaker system.

"I think you're going a bit too fast Seaweed Brain," she yelled over the All Time Low song blasting in her ears.

"Nah, but I'll slow down," Percy replied, "just for you."

"I'm honored," she said sarcastically, but there were undertones of relief in her voice. "So where are we going anyways?"

"You'll see," he replied with a grin.

"I don't want to see," Annabeth complained, "I wanna know." Percy chuckled and stopped for the light while turning the volume down.

"Don't you always?" She smacked him, and Percy decided she looked too adorable for her -and his- own good. He leaned down to kiss her...to be interrupted by a rude honk.

"The light's green Seaweed Brain," Annabeth stated, amused.

"I know, but you're so much more eye-catching than a plain 'ole light," he said, laying on the cheese. Hey, who doesn't like cheese?

"You're lines are horrible, don't ever try them again." Percy raised his eyebrows.

"They're not that bad."

"Oh yeah?"

"I got you didn't I?" he proved, throwing in a grin for good measure.

"Not with those lines," she smarted back.

"My stunning good looks?"

"No."

"My charming wit?"

"Nope."

"My great sense of humor?"

"Eh, not really."

"Then do tell Wise Girl, what's got you falling at my feet?" She rolled her eyes.

"I did not fall at your feet."

"Then what- Hey! We're here!" Percy exclaimed, pulling into a parking lot. Percy saw Annabeth look out the window.

"The beach," she said, staring at the waters, "in late November?"

"Yep," he replied, opening the door, "after you."

The two walked down the beach to the more rocky area. Percy cleverly stepped over the large rocks, leading Annabeth through the narrow passages.

"You know Percy, most people walk on the side of the beach that _won't _make them impale themselves."

"Psh, that's no fun."

"Only you," she muttered, shaking her head. Percy ignored it, and continued to trek through the rocks.

"Don't worry Wise Girl, we're almost there."

"Almost wher-AHHH!" Annabeth screamed. With wide eyes, Percy rushed back toward her, tripping and stumbling like a drunk man.

"Annabeth? Are you okay?" he asked once he arrived at the scene. "What are you doing up there?" Annabeth was perched atop a particularly large boulder, holding her legs to her chest, and shivering uncontrollably. Percy was worried, he couldn't see any monster anywhere.

"A-a w-wave and -t-the s-s-spider!" she exclaimed, pointing at the rock next to Percy.

"I don't see- oh," Percy saw the spider. It was soaked, and didn't appear to be moving. "Don't worry Annabeth, it drowned before it washed up here. You can come down now," he reassured her.

"N-no get r-rid of i-it f-f-first," she replied, shaking harder. Percy rolled his eyes and willed a wave wash the spider away. Under his breath, he added,

"That wasn't very nice dad."

'_Sorry son' he heard Poseidon reply._

"Is it gone?" whimpered Annabeth from the boulder.

"Yes Annabeth, the scary spider is gone."

"Good," she replied, climbing down, "because I don't like spiders."

"Well you'll love this," Percy whispered in her ear, covering her eyes.

"No I don't think I do," she retorted. Percy chuckled, and led the hesitant girl toward the clearing.

"You can open your eyes now," he murmured in her ear. Once Annabeth saw the scene before her however, her reluctancy was gone, and she gasped.

"Oh my gods Percy, this place is beautiful!" And Percy completely agreed with her. The clearing was cleverly hidden by the large boulders on one side, and the dense forest on the other. A steady brook ran through the lush green grass, trying to reach the ocean, and a small cave covered in moss and flowers stood facing it. The place looked so peaceful and serene, that Percy was briefly reminded of Ogygia.

"C'mon, don't just stand there," Percy urged, "I got us chips and sodas from the vending machine."

"Always the nutritionist," she said sarcastically, getting over the initial shock of seeing such a beautiful place.

"But you know you want one," he tempted, waving a can of Sprite in her face.

"My mother was right," Annabeth mused, "You are a horrible influence." But she took the soda, and Percy grinned.

"But this is defiantly better that scrubbing toilets right?" Percy asked, popping open his Coke. Annabeth pecked his nose, making him blush.

"Totally."

* * *

"Hey Percy?" asked Annabeth with her head on his chest.

"Mmhm?"

"What's up with you today?" Percy was confused.

"I told you, I was tired."

"But you've been through a lot worse that just throwing a football around," she mumbled, rolling over so that they were next to each other.

"Then you've never been to one of Coach Cook's football tryouts then," he chuckled, making his chest rise in front of him. But Annabeth wouldn't let it drop so easily. She propped herself up on her elbows, and turned to face him.

"But still, you seem stressed Percy. It it because of...us?" she said, her voice lowered at the last word. Percy quickly sat up, shocked at her question.

"No, no, it's not you-"

"Then what is it Percy?" Annabeth asked, her eyebrows furrowing together, "I'm worried about you."

"Well I just crammed a paper in last night about the Vietnam War. I broke about a million pieces of lead trying to sketch a water bottle. And...did I mention I'm failing English?" Percy blurted out. Annabeth looked at her boyfriend sympathetically.

"Can't you ask Paul for help? You're in his class right?"

"Well yeah, but it'd feel like I was asking him for answers," he shrugged. Annabeth frowned -which Percy found utterly adorable- before her face lit up into a gigantic smile.

"How 'bout I tutor you?"

"Tutoring?"

"Yeah we live in the same building. I can come over whenever you need help," she said, snuggling into the crook of his neck.

"Thanks Wise Girl, but one question."

"What is it?"

"Why didn't you think of this before I turned that stupid paper in?"

"Because you're a Seaweed Brain, and didn't ask," she replied, smirking.

Percy sighed, "Fair enough."

* * *

**Ahh, another chapter. I got this one out in a day, and Chapter 12 took a month to write. What's wrong with me?! O_o**

**Anyways. didja like? I hope you did, and I hope you'll click that tempting review button as well. If you don't my pride'll be severely wounded.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Annabeth **(3rd Person POV)

Annabeth sat in Paul's Prius, debating whether or not she wanted to know about the hoofprints on the hood. The sun had almost completely dipped under the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant reds and purples. And even though winter was fast approaching, Annabeth had opted to roll her window all the way down, and let the wind stream through her hair. Next to her, Percy was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, keeping beat with Maroon 5 song on the radio. His hair was ruffled -whenever was it not- and his eyes sparkled in the light of the sunset. Annabeth had to admit, he looked utterly amazing right then.

"Something on my face Wise Girl?" he murmured grinning, barely audible over the music. Annabeth flushed.

"N-no, stop distracting yourself from the road!"

"I think you're the one that should stop being distracted."

"Oh shut it." She muttered.

"Aw, you love it."

"Yeah, I do." And Annabeth was proud to see that Percy was trying to hide a blush of his own.

* * *

When Annabeth unlocked the door to the apartment, she was surprised to find it empty. Frowning, she turned her phone on to see that she had 3 missed texts from her friends.

_Grover: Annabeth, we're all going out for dinner, did you have fun with Percy? ;D_

_Malcolm: Running off with Percy better have been worth it. I got stuck cleaning toilets._

_Thalia: Annie, come home. I need to talk to you._

Annabeth stared at the screen, Thalia was home? All the rooms were empty. A bout of panic seized her, what if a monster came? What if she got attacked, and the text was her warning? What if-

"Annie?" she heard a voice say weakly.

"Thals?" Annabeth replied, turning around and gasping. Thalia stood in the hall just outside their bedroom. Even in the dim light, Annabeth could still tell there was something wrong with her friend.

"Hey," she said, giving a futile attempt at a smile.

"What's wrong Thalia?" Annabeth asked, still in shock of the broken Hunter in front of her.

"I-I had a dream," she mumbled.

"A dream or a..." Annabeth trailed off, a bit afraid.

"I don't know..."

"Can you...explain?" Annabeth asked, trying to coax the information out of her softly. Thalia sighed, and straightened her back.

"I'm not a spooked cat Annie," she said, seeming more like her old self, "don't act like I am."

"Sorry, you just," Annabeth stopped, "so what about this dream?" Thalia seemed to deflate.

"Yeah, hold on, let's go into our room. It's too dark out here for this." Obediently, Annabeth followed her into their room, wondering what could demoralize _Thalia _of all people.

"So..." Annabeth said, prompting Thalia to start her story. She sat down on her cold bunk, and ushered Thalia to do the same. She sighed, and plopped down on it, took a breath, and started.

"Well, in the dream, vision, whatever, I was alone in the dark. I felt trapped, like I was in a straitjacket, but I couldn't _feel _anything. It was weird. I mean other demigod dreams always involved pain and just general creepy-ness, but there wasn't anything like that. It was like a...good kind of trapped. And then I had these thoughts pop into my head. They were telling me to...well basically they were telling me suck it up and get over my past. At first I had no idea what they meant, but then it got bright. Seriously bright," all of a sudden, Thalia stopped.

"Is that it?" asked Annabeth, trying to conclude what the dream was about. She had a good idea, but she wasn't sure.

"No, there's more."

"Like?" Annabeth wondered, desperate for the conclusion.

"Before I woke up, a person walked up to me, and..." Thalia took another breath, "it was Luke." Annabeth, who was listening intently snapped her head up.

"Luke, like our Luke?"

"Yeah, Luke with blue eyes," Thalia clarified. Annabeth sat in silence for a moment, soaking in her newfound knowledge.

"Thals, I don't think you need me to help you understand," she said, realizing her first conclusion was indeed correct.

"Yeah, but-" Annabeth cut her off.

"No buts, this is it. That's your decision."

"But what about-" Thalia was once again interrupted.

"Don't worry about others, this is the life for you. It's what you always wanted. Don't second guess it just because of what will happen in the future," Annabeth spoke in such a confident voice, she probably could've talked herself into the decision. Thalia smiled, and with newfound resolve, she spoke.

"Can you write that down, I might use that someday."

* * *

The next morning, Annabeth woke up to Thalia's pathetic attempt at making breakfast. She sniffed the aroma of a burning meal, and immediately tossed the covers off of her body. Annabeth fumbled around in her early morning haze before rushing toward the kitchen.

"What's burning?!" she yelled, grabbing a fire extinguisher.

"Breakfast," muttered Will dryly. Annabeth took in the exhausted group around her, and her eyes lit up in realization.

"Thalia?"

"The one and only," chirped an abnormally cheerful voice.

"The last piece of bacon," groaned Connor miserably. Thalia smacked him with the dishtowel that was perched on her left shoulder.

"Don't whine. A pig going to the slaughterhouse deserves to whine. Pigs named Connor are not." At this the group cracked up, and for a moment the exhaustion was forgotten.

"Hey," asked Nico, "what time is it again?"

"4:36," replied Thalia enthusiastically, "a.m."

"You," muttered Clarisse, "are a mad woman." Internally, Annabeth agreed.

"Then go back to bed you slackers. I'm going to make pancakes."

"NO!" shouted Will. Thalia glared at him, and he gulped. "I mean, you must be tired waking up this early. I'll make breakfast for us. You go...uh, go do whatever you do at this ungodly hour." Thalia rolled her eyes, and tossed the towel to Will. As she passed Annabeth however, Thalia gave her a small smile. Annabeth gave her another back.

* * *

**Ah, the joys of taking a test on a Saturday. For you obviously, you get a new chapter. I get bags under my eyes. Not exactly a fair trade if you ask me. Please review to make up for it?**

*insert puppy dog face here*


	15. Chapter 15

**Percy **(3rd Person POV)

_'Today's a good day,' _thought Percy as he practically skipped his way home. The bell had rung not fifteen minutes ago, declaring the start of winter break. Later, he would drive down to Camp Half-Blood, trailing a strawberry delivery van. And in his hand, he cluched his progress report for the semester. Now usually, that menacing sheet of paper was the bane of his existance, but not today. Because after all, today was a good day.

As he entered his apartment, Percy was met with the tantalizing aroma of chocolate chip cookies. Blue to be exact. Rushing into the kitchen, Percy ran into his mother, who was holding a tray of piping hot cookies.

"Whoa there honey," she chuckled, steadying herself, "they're still too hot."

"I faced immortal Titans mom, I think I can handle a cookie," he replied, grinning eagerly. She just shook her head.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she sighed, "and save some for our guest."

"Guest?" he asked, but she just smiled knowingly and walked out of the kitchen. Percy shrugged it off and reached for a cookie. As he bit down on it, he yelped. It burned like Hades! Unable to control himself, the faucet burst and drenched him -and his burning tongue- with water. Percy sunk down on the, now flooded, kitchen floor. Huh, maybe the small of his back wasn't his only weakness.

"I leave for a minute..." started a disapointed voice, "and you manage to blow up the kitchen?"

"Technically," he defended, "it was just the sink."

Half an hour later, with some elbow grease and a roll of duct tape, the busted water pipe was reduced to a trinkling leak. Percy stood sheepishly in the living room as his mother lectured him on how a mother knows best, and when she tells you _not_ to eat the cookie, you don't eat the cookie. Luckily, this speech was interupted with a loud knock on the door. Immediatly, she sat up, ran a hand through her hair, and straighted her outfit. Percy looked at her curiously.

"Uh, I'll get it," he offered. Sally looked relieved.

"Yes, yes, I'll be in the kitchen," she said, scrambling off to tend to the new batch of cookies. Curious, Percy opened the door to reveal a blonde haired woman in her thirties that had a strikingly similar resemblence to Annabeth.

"L-Lady Athena?" he squeaked.

"Yes, now where are your manners?" she asked impatiently, "Are you going to let me in or not?"

"Yes, of course, uh, come in," Percy stumbled. Well his day was going downhill quickly.

"And wipe that look off of your face," she muttered. At Percy's confused expression, she added, "As much as I would like to, I am not going to kill you. That would make me seem ungrateful, would it not?" Mutely, Percy nodded.

"What does my daughter see in you?"

"Uh..."

"Exactly, now where is your mother? I wish to speak to her."

Gathering his wits, Percy replied, "In the kitchen." With a smirk -and to Percy's relief- the goddess went towards the direction of the kitchen. Percy sat, fumbling with Riptide, and feeling incredibly awkward until he decided that as much as he would _love_ to hear the Goddess of Wisdom and his mother gossip about his qualities, he could do without. He grabbed his keys, and rushed outside, breathing in the crisp December air.

"So Seaweed Brain," said a girl next to him, "what's up?" Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Percy sighed.

"Your mother popped in for a visit." She groaned, and buried her face in his chest.

"Nooooo," she mumbled.

"Don't worry Wise Girl, I'm not exactly a fan of it either."

* * *

An hour later, the two returned to the Jacksons' residence with ice cream cones in hand. Upon entering, Percy froze. On the couch, the two women were chatting and discussing things that Percy rather not find out about.

"Oh, Percy come over here," ushered his mom, "I found the most adorable photos-"

Percy cut her off with a dramatic groan, "Mooooom!"

"They do make quite an impression Perseus," added Athena.

"Ooh, can I see?" asked Annabeth, moving over toward the photos. Percy whimpered.

"Traitor."

"Nah," she replied, pecking him on the nose, "just curious."

After what seemed like forever of giggling over pictures of a drooling Percy, his mom had decided that it was time to get to camp. Percy sighed, relieved, and jumped at the chance to show Athena to the door. She simply rolled her eyes, and grabbed her coat.

"I could incinerate you."

"Mother!"

"But I have something better," she smirked. She then proceded to pull out a picture of Percy in a bathtub trying to devour a blue rubber ducky. Percy paled. "This is definatly going on the Olympic Times," she said smugly.

Percy groaned.

* * *

_The Next Day_

Percy woke up to find the sun streaming the the blinds of Cabin 3. He rolled over and pulled his cover over his head. A minute later however, a body plopped down beside him.

"Hey Percy?"

"Hrggg?"

" Wanna see something cool?"

Percy sat up, and rubbed his eyes, "What?"

"Lookie," Travis said, shoving a paper in his face before bolting out of the room.

_**Thirty Revealing Secrets of the Savior of Olympus.**_

_**Thing You Didn't Know.**_

_**And Things You Didn't Need to Know.**_

* * *

**Done. Complete. My first fic is finished. I don't know how much I like it though. As I reread it, I realized just how crappy it was. Whatever. Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting it anyways. It means a lot. I'll probably redo this someday though. Maybe not. Sorry if you wasted your time on this, but hey, I tried.  
**


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